NV Energy to decommission coal plants, shift to gas and renewables

CARSON CITY — NV Energy will roll out a major policy initiative Wednesday, announcing that it will shutter its coal-fired plants, increase investment in renewable energy and create thousands of construction jobs over the next 12 years.

Under the plan, Nevada’s coal plants would begin closing by the end of next year, and the company would accelerate investment in wind, solar, geothermal and natural gas to replace the coal energy going offline. The company estimates the plan could result in a nearly 4 percent increase in rates over the next 20 years, and the proposed legislation would limit the Public Utilities Commission’s ability to approve the increases.

The utility plans to unveil the proposal it’s calling “NVision” on Wednesday at the Legislature as an amendment to Senate Bill 123.

“This does three things: it retires coal from Nevada, builds renewables, and it creates jobs,” said Tony Sanchez, NV Energy senior vice president.